Improving Quantum Dot Triplets

Scientific discoveries that enhance and augment another are not limited to being discovered after the technology they will improve. As reported by Springer, researchers have found a new way to couple quantum dot triples, resulting in improved performance. This could easily translate to faster quantum computers, when those are created, assuming they use quantum dots.

Quantum dots are man-made semiconductor crystals that can have their properties tuned to match many situations. In this case, the situation is to couple three of them together, but not as is normally done. The three quantum dots still have inner electrons entangled, which protect the electrons from interference, but one of them is coupled with electrodes. Though it is inner electrons that are entangled, the electrical resistance of the conducting electrons can also be affected. By measuring changes in electrical conductance, it is possible to observe when the quantum dot shifts between an entangled and disentangled quantum phase; a transition they can induce.

The result of this research is a faster means to measure the change in the quantum dots, as previous methods required looking for a jump in entropy and spin susceptibility. Before one has even been built, quantum computers are already getting an upgrade.